A group of York students has won the opportunity to have their very own I-phone application developed after winning The App Challenge final, held at the Ron Cooke Hub on Wednesday, January 18.
YUSU Welfare officer Bob Hughes has warned students to be vigilant after a student loans phishing scam has been revealed.
Her Majesty the Queen will be visiting York on Maundy Thursday, 5th April, as part of the 800th anniversary of York’s Charter for the traditional “Royal Maundy” ceremony.
A flood caused by a heating system “failure” forced the university IT services to shut down many essential systems on Sunday night, causing problems for many students on the eve of their exams and assignment due-dates.
Following problems with the Vanbrugh JCRC election, complaints have similarly arisen around the handling of the Goodricke JCRC elections.
The controversy surrounds the Vice Chair (Welfare and Democracy) candidate James Carney, who has been subject to various campaigning bans by the Goodricke JCRC returning officers.
The matter has now become so serious that former Goodricke returning officer, Peter Sharpe, has written to the returning officers, recommending that YUSU take charge of running the elections. Sharpe questioned whether the current returning officers were running “fair, free and unbiased elections”, alleging that the bans imposed on Carney were “in breach of the constitution”.
The Yorker understands that Carney was banned most recently after others who support his campaign posted links to his campaign Facebook event as a comment in links posted by an opposing candidate. The Goodricke JCRC returning officer imposed a 24 hour campaigning ban on Carney for the actions, which they likened to putting a poster over his opponent’s poster.
In a public response to the returning officers posted on Facebook, Carney rejected the allegations, saying: “It is most certainly not comparable to putting a poster over his. This would mean his poster could not be seen. By posting underneath another post it does not draw attention away from the original post. It does, in fact, draw more attention to it.”
Carney, in an official campaign video which he describes as “censored”, urged voters to “bring back free speech and democracy to Goodricke”.
The Goodricke returning officer told The Yorker that he could not discuss any candidates in any way which would suggest any form of bias, so could not comment on the current allegations. He did however assert that “I have been told by staff within the union and the college that I am doing a good job. Complaints are dealt with in a fair and proper manner.
“There is an appeals process to challenge the actions of the returning officer and I welcome people to use this process,” he continued. He also asked all students with any complaints about any candidates to advise him of these by emailing elections@goodricke.co.uk.
Both Sharpe and Carney have questioned the extent to which candidates can be held responsible for the actions of those who support them, with Sharpe highlighting that the Goodricke JCRC constitution states that “individual candidates are not responsible for the actions of others”. Carney added that it was “naïve” to expect him to control everyone who may be supporting him in the campaign.
The Yorker also understands that Carney’s supporters have complained that his opponent, Liam O'Shaughnessy has not received similar sanction, despite his supporters posting comments on Facebook such as “James is a highly inefficient cog in the machine of obedience”, “Don’t believe Carney, that boy doesn’t know what he’s talking about” and “James Carney is a small penis p****”.
Liam O'Shaughnessy has told The Yorker that a 24 hour ban has in fact been given to him and alleges that he has no knowledge of the individuals making these posts.
The controversy has encouraged more students to speak out, with a former JCRC sports rep saying the “ban is unfair and maybe a bit prejudiced” and one third year student arguing that during Carney’s campaign ”at no point has any part of the JCRC code of conduct been breached.”
The returning officer has confirmed that he will not be handing over the elections to YUSU. Regardless of the decision, the requirement of the Goodricke JCRC election that “where the Returning Officer resigns or else becomes ineligible to conduct the elections, all elections are null and void” could well leave the results open to challenge after voting closes on Sunday.
This is the second college whose elections have come under scrutiny owing to the actions of their returning officers after Vanbrugh College were forced to extend their nomination deadlines after returning officers broke their own rules.
The bottom line here is simple. The elections process is flawed and needs to be reviewed. Once the conduct of the returning officer is questioned there is a bias entered into the equation and the holder should resign to prevent bringing the elections into disrepute.
You must log in to submit a comment.
Report